Ireland: Eurovision 2019 exceeded €300,000

In a yesterday’s article in Irish Mirror, the cost of the Irish participation in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest was listed.

Specifically, RTE spent more than 300,000 euros to participate in this year’s event. The total cost of € 336,617 was increased by 10% from last year’s € 304,088. RTE said the cost increase can be attributed to a number of factors, such as the journey distance, 5,500 km from Dublin to Tel Aviv, compared to 2,800 km for Lisbon in 2018.

RTE sent a delegation of 19 people to Tel Aviv, while flights to Tel Aviv reached close to 22,000 euros. In addition, they spent 50,000 euros for 2-week accommodation. Finally, 43,000 euros were spent on design, construction, props and lighting.

Of course, the public broadcaster had to pay also a subscription fee of  EUR 85,000 to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for its participation in Eurovision 2019.

An RTE’s spokesman stated that the costs did not include RTE’s workforce charges and that all flights were economy class while Eurovision representatives should stay only in designated hotels.

The cost of Eurovision 2019 may have been high, but the final result was disappointing. The queen of Eurovision, represented by Sarah McTernan and the song “22“, failed to qualify for the big Finals, finishing in the 18th (last) of the second semifinal with 16 points.